Toyota's EV Bet in Europe Seems to Be Paying Off, Even for PHEVs
The automaker has not focused heavily on EVs, catering to a greater variety of buyers in various countries in the geopolitical bloc, not all of whom are interested exclusively in electrification.
Still, BEV sales by Toyota and Lexus grew 42% year-on-year in the January-June period, while PHEVs grew 186% for the two brands.
Toyota's modern EV era in the US began with the bZ4X (hastily facelifted and recently renamed simply bZ), but its reticence toward electric models might also extend to other important markets, including Europe.
The automaker recently kept its second best-selling car brand crown, behind only Volkswagen, with all-time record sales of 591,115 vehicles, 491,197 of which were electrified.
Electrified does not mean all-electric, of course, but BEV sales by Toyota and Lexus grew an impressive 42% in the January-June period between 2024 and 2025. That's a serious gain of which any European automaker would be envious.
The Toyota brand alone saw a gain of 46% year-on-year among solely BEVs, amounting to 27,773 vehicles. The familiar bZ4X accounted for the lion's share of that with 18,724 unit sold, while the rest were electric versions of its Proace van.
So the midsize crossover is still considered the safest play on the other side of the Atlantic as well.
The Lexus UX electric, on the other hand, saw 953 units find buyers in the first six months of the year, while the Lexus RZ saw far more fans with sales of 2,521 units.
But the Tidal Wave Is Coming
"Despite various headwinds in the market, we are encouraged that consumer demand remains solid for the Toyota and Lexus range of electrified vehicles," said Till Conrad, Executive Vice President-Sales, Toyota Motor Europe. "It's testament to our product power offering a broad lineup of zero and low-emission electrified product."
Toyota's results from the first six months would seem like steady progress, at least at first blush. The automaker, among other European brands, is about to face a tidal wave of affordable EVs from China, including from brands like MG, BYD, Nio, Xpeng, and Leapmotor.
Yes, it's that same MG that was purchased by SAIC back in 2006 during MG-Rover's collapse. And now it's back after a series of mostly forgettable commuter cars with an affordable electric roadster—something you may recall Tesla promised about a decade ago.
Whether Europe is ready for an electric roadster—from Tesla or MG—is another matter.
As in the US, Toyota and Lexus are still staking much of their strategy on hybrids of all types, rather than going all-in on electric models.
And for now, this slow but steady approach seems to be paying off in Europe. And by that we mean the entirety of the EU member states and not the stereotypical EV-friendly Scandinavians and residents of the low countries.
Lexus Lineup 100% Electrified
"Lexus has a 100% electrified sales mix in West Europe and 95% across the entire region. Key performers are the compact Lexus LBX Hybrid and Lexus NX (available in plug-in hybrid and hybrid variants)," the automaker notes.
Toyota's top seller in Europe during the first six months of the year was the Yaris Cross, with 103,580 units—definitely not an EV. And its second best seller was the Yaris, with 90,549 units.
Among electrified but not electric cars, Toyota's top seller was the Yaris Cross Hybrid, with 103,574 units finding homes in the first six months of the year. The Yaris Hybrid wasn't far behind, finding 90,074 buyers.
Overall, the automaker appears to have correctly judged the demand for EVs in the middle of the decade, ignoring a period early in the pandemic that saw a rush for EVs and panicked predictions of the quick demise of everything else, including diesels.
The same appears to have held true for the Toyota brand, with the division focusing on affordable bread-and-butter models, with plenty of hybrid tech on board.
"Toyota's overall electrified sales mix is now at 76%, with volume increasing +6% year-on-year," the automaker noted.
The more important metric: PHEVs saw an even more impressive surge, gaining 272% year-on-year in sales strictly within the Toyota brand and amounting to 42,200 vehicles.
For all the talk of gains by EVs, it's actually the PHEVs that have surged the most over the past year.
So there is still plenty of interest in hybrids of all sorts in Europe, despite predictions early in the decade that everything what wasn't battery-electric by 2025 would be hopelessly outdated.
Should Toyota offer a wider variety of small electric cars in the US? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
After Air Canada suspends operations, government forces airline and union into arbitration
TORONTO — Canada's government forced Air Canada and its striking flight attendants back to work and into arbitration Saturday after a work stoppage stranded more than 100,000 travelers around the world during the peak summer travel season. Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said now is not the time to take risks with the economy, noting the unprecedented tariffs the U.S. has imposed on Canada. The intervention means the 10,000 flight attendants will return to work soon. The government's action came less than 12 hours after workers walked off the job. 'The talks broke down. It is clear that the parties are not any closer to resolving some of the key issues that remain and they will need help with the arbitrator,' Hajdu said. Hajdu said the full resumption of services could take days, noting it is up to the Canada Industrial Relations Board. The shutdown of Canada's largest airline early Saturday is affecting about 130,000 people a day, and some 25,000 Canadians may be stranded. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day. Hajdu ordered the Canada Industrial Relations Board to extend the term of the existing collective bargaining agreement until a new one is determined by the arbitrator. 'Canadians rely on air travel every day, and its importance cannot be understated,' she said. Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, or CUPE, complained in a statement that Hajdu waited only a few hours to intervene and said the government has violated the union's constitutional right to strike. 'The Liberal government is rewarding Air Canada's refusal to negotiate fairly by giving them exactly what they wanted,' he said. Union spokesman Hugh Pouliot didn't immediately know when workers would return to work. 'We're on the picket lines until further notice,' he said. The bitter contract fight between the airline and the union representing 10,000 of its flight attendants escalated Friday as CUPE turned down the airline's request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which would eliminate its right to strike and allow a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract. Keelin Pringnitz of Ottawa was returning with her family from a European vacation when they became stranded at London's Heathrow Airport after flights were canceled. She said there was an option for the travelers in line to go to the United States, but they were told there wouldn't be any further assistance once they landed in the U.S. 'It didn't go over well with the line. Nobody really seemed interested. Everybody seemed a little bit amused almost at the suggestion, or exasperated, because it is a bit ridiculous to offer to take stranded passengers to a different country to strand them there,' she said. Montreal resident Alex Laroche, 21, and his girlfriend had been saving since Christmas for their European vacation. Now their $8,000 trip with nonrefundable lodging is in doubt. They had a Saturday night flight to Nice, France, booked. Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Mark Nasr has said it could take up to a week to fully restart operations. Flight attendants walked off the job around 1 p.m. EDT on Saturday. Around the same time, Air Canada said it would begin locking flight attendants out of airports. Ian Lee, associate professor at Carleton University's Sprott School of Business, noted earlier that the government frequently intervenes in transportation strikes. 'They will intervene to bring the strike to an end. Why? Because it has happened 45 times from 1950 until now,' Lee said. 'It is all because of the incredible dependency of Canadians.' Canada is the second-largest country in the world geographically, and flying is often the only viable option. 'We're so huge a country and it's so disruptive when there is a strike of any kind in transportation,' Lee said. The government forced the country's two major railroads into arbitration with their labor union last year during a work stoppage. The union for the rail workers is suing, arguing that the government is removing a union's leverage in negotiations. The Business Council of Canada has urged the government to impose binding arbitration in this case, too. Hajdu said her Liberal government is not anti-union, saying it is clear the two sides are at an impasse. Passengers whose travel is affected will be eligible to request a full refund on the airline's website or mobile app, according to Air Canada. The airline said it would also offer alternative travel options through other Canadian and foreign airlines when possible. But it warned that it could not guarantee immediate rebooking because flights on other airlines are already full 'due to the summer travel peak.' Laroche said he considered booking new flights with a different carrier, but that most of them are nearly full and cost more than double the $3,000 he and his girlfriend paid for their original tickets. Laroche said that he was initially upset over the union's decision to go on strike, but that he had a change of heart after reading about the key issues at the center of the contract negotiations, including the issue of wages. 'Their wage is barely livable,' Laroche said. Air Canada and the CUPE union have been in contract talks for about eight months, but they have yet to reach a tentative deal. Both sides say they remain far apart on the issue of pay and the unpaid work flight attendants do when planes aren't in the air. 'We are heartbroken for our passengers. Nobody wants to see Canadians stranded or anxious about their travel plans, but we cannot work for free,' Natasha Stea, an Air Canada flight attendant and local union president, said before the government intervention was announced. The attendants are about 70% women. Stea said Air Canada pilots, who are mostly men, received a significant raise last year, and she questioned whether flight attendants are getting fair treatment. The airline's latest offer included a 38% increase in total compensation, including benefits and pensions over four years, that it said 'would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada.' But the union countered, saying the proposed 8% raise in the first year didn't go far enough because of inflation. 'We're the national carrier and we have people operating in poverty. Like, that's disgusting, that's very problematic,' Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada component of CUPE, said at a news conference. Gillies and Yamat write for the Associated Press and reported from Toronto and Las Vegas, respectively.
Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
Putin got a warm Trump meeting. Europe is afraid Zelenskyy won't.
While publicly Europe and Ukraine have appeared upbeat, privately officials were wary of Putin's red carpet welcome back to the West, where he secured the veneer of global legitimacy without making the kind of gestures toward peace the U.S., Europe and Ukraine have sought. 'Worries have been there all the way this year, and yesterday's meeting did not really help,' a European official said. Trump's position on the war has yo-yoed in recent weeks. While he had for months blamed Ukraine for the conflict, he had been more critical of Putin and Russia in the lead-up to the summit. He even said Putin would face 'severe consequences,' if he did not agree to stop the war after Friday's gathering. But after several hours of meetings with Putin in Alaska, Trump backtracked on a demand for an immediate ceasefire, again said it would be up to Ukraine to end the fighting and advised Kyiv to 'take the deal,' without specifying what Putin had suggested. Trump said after the summit that he negotiated with Putin over land swaps but declined to provide more details. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday will lead a teleconference among the 'coalition of the willing' — countries that have indicated they will provide troops and other support to Ukraine at the end of the war, according to a European official. Ahead of the summit, Trump said he supported some American role in providing security guarantees — some form of assurance or support from Washington to deter Russia from attacking again after a peace deal is agreed. Nordic and Baltic leaders welcomed those commitments again after Trump spoke with European officials late Friday. While Trump did much more than usual to consult with Europe in the lead-up to the summit with Putin and after, the frequent contact does not seem to have yielded tangible results. European officials are relieved that Trump did not agree to a deal with Putin but disappointed that the threat of steep secondary tariffs targeting third countries buying Russian oil was tabled. 'They want to try to influence the negotiation process as much as possible, because they know Trump really wants to do it this way, and they don't want to leave the initiative to Putin,' said Giuseppe Spatafora, a former NATO official who is now a research analyst at the EU Institute for Security Studies. 'In general, the Europeans talk much more often to Trump than during the first 100 days, which is good. They have influence. But it's limited.' Zelenskyy's last visit to the Oval Office in February quickly went off the rails when Vice President JD Vance and later Trump both lectured him for not being grateful enough for American support and overplaying what they said was a weak diplomatic position. Zelenskyy's decision to wear a black polo, black pants and boots rather than a suit further soured the atmosphere. But Trump and Zelenskyy have been on better terms in recent meetings, as Kyiv's allies sought to improve the relationship and Trump's frustration with Putin mounted.
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
From Orbit To Oval Inside The Space Force One Race NASCAR Mission
At Dover Motor Speedway in July, fans saw a futuristic paint scheme scattered among the field. It was one very similar to an earlier livery tied to Star Wars and being raced on a Toyota driven by Bubba Wallace who had also raced that Star Wars themed car last year. But this most recent livery paid homage not to something from science fiction, but science fact. This paint scheme featured Leidos and, more curiously, the U.S. Space Force. Yes, that Space Force, the youngest branch of the military that most Americans still think is either a Steve Carell sitcom or a punchline involving aliens and weather balloons. But make no mistake: the Guardians, as members of the Space Force are called, are very real, and their mission is as vital as it is misunderstood. Which, as it turns out, is exactly why they showed up at NASCAR's Monster Mile in the first place. You see Leidos wasn't just slapping the Space Force logo on a racecar for the sake of shiny paint. As Gregory Pejic, VP and Space Account Manager for Leidos, explained, the goal was to connect the public with the very real, everyday impact of space-based capabilities, things like secure communications, GPS navigation, and homeland defense. In NASCAR, those same satellite systems quietly enhance the sport itself, from driver safety and performance analytics to communications and live broadcasting. In other words, the tech that keeps America safe also keeps NASCAR running at full speed. 'If you think about the true purpose about why we're doing this,' Pejic said. 'The goal is to raise awareness to build appreciation for this critical work happening above, and to show how that type of innovation translates directly and the benefits here on Earth.' In 2022, as part of a U.S. Air Force sponsorship with the now-defunct Petty GMS Racing, the Space Force logo wasn't just a decal—it covered Ty Dillon's entire Chevrolet in a full Space Force paint scheme. By contrast, Dover marked a different kind of debut. This time the logo appeared as part of a broader Leidos sponsorship on Bubba Wallace's Toyota, giving the Space Force visibility within a partnership rather than as the primary branding. For Lt. Col. Brian Dea, Executive Officer to the Chief Operations Officer of the U.S. Space Force, it was still 'a world-class opportunity to bring the existence of the Space Force—and really what we do—to a fantastic audience.' Dea, who attended the Dover race with a group of Guardians, said the fan response was immediate. 'You saw this tremendous sense of gratitude,' he said. 'People were humbled, gracious, and glad we were there. Handshakes, hugs—if we'd stayed longer maybe even a kiss or two. The NASCAR fan base is really a beautiful slice of the American public.' What struck Dea was not only the warm welcome, but also the parallels between the sport and the Space Force mission. 'NASCAR fans are into how the car is set up, how it's running—the technical aspects of speed, precision, and accuracy. That aligns directly with what the Space Force does in space operations,' he said. 'I was standing behind the crew chief as they were communicating with the driver and analyzing the car turn by turn. Well, that's what we do in space operations too. It requires tremendous precision, care, and engineering to make those systems operate, sustain them, and then use them when needed.' For fans who asked what the Space Force actually does, Dea often pointed to the one thing everyone uses: GPS. 'Most Americans interact with the Space Force every single day, even if they don't realize it,' he said. 'Banking transactions, cell phone navigation, even getting to and from work—none of that happens without GPS. And GPS is a Space Force mission.' He added that fans connected quickly when examples became more concrete. 'Think about Operation Midnight Hammer (when bombers flew out of Whiteman Air Force Base and struck targets across the globe with pinpoint accuracy). Every part of that—intelligence, warning, communications, navigation—was enabled by space operations and specifically the Space Force. We couldn't do those missions, or bring those crews home safely, without it.' At Dover, those explanations landed. 'When you put the Space Force mission in terms of everyday life, people get it,' Dea said. 'They understand what we do is incredibly real and incredibly important. The response from fans was warm, gracious, and full of gratitude.' Still, Dea acknowledged the impact of their NASCAR visit won't be measured overnight. But that's okay, just like the 2022 appearance, it's really just part of a larger effort. 'Time will tell how successful it was,' he said. 'This isn't going to be one event where suddenly everyone understands the Space Force. It's another step in the chain. But the American public has a vested interest in understanding what their sons and daughters do and why it matters. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, Guardians are on watch—facilitating and protecting critical space services.' And he emphasized, those services are not guaranteed forever. 'Adversarial nations have tested and fielded capabilities designed to deny America's use of space,' Dea said. 'That's why the Space Force was created—not just to keep doing what's been done before, but to have a dedicated service with dedicated personnel to defend those capabilities.' So, will the Space Force return to NASCAR? Dea hopes so. 'I'd like to believe we'll continue to look for opportunities like this,' he said. 'It's not just about putting information out—it's about putting Guardians out there too. When fans who are passionate about racing meet Guardians who are passionate about what they do, that connection resonates. It gives Guardians a sense of appreciation they bring back to the force. Events like Dover are just one step, but I'd like to see us do more.' While in 2022, the Space Force made a splash in NASCAR with Ty Dillon's Chevrolet under an Air Force sponsorship, Dover was different. Instead of being the headline sponsor, the Space Force was part of a broader Leidos partnership, and the purpose wasn't simply visibility—it was understanding. In the end, it was less about Bubba Wallace's lap times, or where he finished (seventh for the record) but more about the continuing effort to close the gap between 'Space Force' as a punchline and Space Force as a 24/7 mission that keeps America's most essential systems online. Dover gave them a loud, patriotic, slightly beer-scented classroom in which to make their case. Because whether you're piloting a $200 million satellite or a 3,400-pound stock car, the equation is the same—precision, speed, and absolute reliability. One operates in a vacuum, the other in 120-degree heat with 39 other drivers trying to shove you into a wall. Both, however, are unapologetically American. For Dea, that parallel is exactly the point. 'The space domain is incredibly contested,' he said. 'Supremacy in space today is not guaranteed tomorrow. What ensures we maintain that advantage is the United States Space Force—and America's Guardians—on watch, on call, and ready to execute this mission and protect it.'
